Should The Church Be Multi-ethnic and What Does A Church Look Like?

When people think of a church, they normally think of the building. We associate the church with a location, not a people. So when you ask someone what should a church look like, most don't have a clue because of what they see in the media or experienced in attending a church service.

In the video below, we have John Piper talking with Stephen Um and Trip Lee asking the question if every church should be multi-ethnic.



Next we have (audio only) Mark Dever, Crawford Loritts, and Tim Keller discussing, what a church should look like.

Recommended Reading:

9 Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever

Center Church by Tim Keller

The Church: The Gospel Made Visible by Mark Dever

What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert

Book Review: Commentary on 1 Corinthians by Stephen Um

When you ask people what book of the Bibles looks like a page from the current culture. Most Christians would say 1 Corinthians. In fact, it is one of the Apostle Paul's most famous letters to the church during the New Testament time.

Many Christians get a lot of verses from 1 Corinthians to apply to their Christian walk. However, there a few Christians that will not read the entire book because of how uncomfortable some of the things Paul writes can be. The Apostle addresses church discipline, where Christians who are in churches that do not practice it, can dismiss it as judgmental. The book also addresses marriage which is a much needed topic in our culture.

Many commentaries have for 1 Corinthians has been written over the years. There have many sermon series on it as well. Stephen Um has taken upon himself the task to write on a commentary on Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church.

This commentary goes into great detail on why the book was written and even uses illustrations to make the point become clear. Um does not back away from the historical and cultural context that 1 Corinthians was written in. He does each issue that Paul addressed in his letter and what it means for the Christian today.

Um talks about unity within the church and how the gospel brings about that unity. He goes to talk about sexual sin, which seems to be one of the hot topics in today's church. Yes, he does address marriage and singleness as well idolatry and issues of worship within the church.

Reviewing a commentary is no easy task especially reading one. However, I really enjoyed reading Stephen Um's commentary on 1 Corinthians and highly recommend it to all pastors and teachers. If you are studying the Bible on your own or with a group of friends, this commentary on 1 Corinthians will be a helpful tool.

Thanks Crossway for letting me review this book.

Vision Behind "Why Cities Matter"

Last month, I reviewed Why Cities Matter by Justin Buzzard and Stephen Um. This video gives you a more understanding on why they wrote the book.